The Order of Heroes!
by Shinnypichu88
Summary: Over one hundred years ago, the Order of Heroes was formed by the The Askran royal family. However, their mission seems to have been lost to time and as tensions between Askr and Emblia grow, so to does the threat of the prime directive. Yet, everything changes when the current Order of Heroes, a mere shadow of its former self, accidentally summons the legendary Bow Summoner.
1. 001: The Beginning

"I hope you're all ready to go." Anna told her two recruits "We've got a mission in the western part of the kingdom, so we're headed to an ancient ruin known as the Eternal Sanctum. I'm almost positive that the the power sleeping there will aid to the Order of Heroes well!"

"What sort of power is it Commander?" Sharena, her youngest and greenest ward asked.

"I don't know the details," Anna admitted "But Zacharias urged me to investigate it before he disappeared."

"Zacharias did?" Sharena asked, surprised, Anna didn't bring up their old friend often.

"I see. Even though he can't rejoin us, he's doing what he can to help." Alfonse, Anna's eldest and overall more responsible ward, said "Let's go. I want to see what lies in wait for us there!"

Something about Alfonse's tone stung, but Anna pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind. They were irrelevant and she had a duty to fulfill as the Orders sole remaining veteran. They would deal with the elephant in the room another day.


	2. 002: The Problem

It had taken them a fortnight to arrive at Eternal Sanctum by carriage.

"So, this is the Eternal Sanctum..." Alfonse muttered in awe. The ruin was in shambles, and all sorts of beasts littered the area. He doubted even bandits would risk coming here. A massive tower was poking out through the mountain the ruins were built under, it reached up to the heavens.

"No, the Sanctum is actually inside the mountain. These are the ruins of Ruin Town, a once thriving community that scholars believe used the sanctum for religious ceremonies and the like."

"Really? Wow Commander, you're so smart!"

"Sharena, she's just reading off a map."

"What?! Commander you tricked me!"

"But I didn't say anything about coming up with this information myself?!" Anna replied, the map she'd used to get here was full of notes written before Zacharias left the order. "Anyway, focus! We need to be on our guard. As you can see, monsters litter the area so we have to be prepared for anything. Let's move, Feh guard our stuff!"

The Order of Heroes made their way into the Eternal Sanctum.


	3. 003: The Trap

It was a labyrinth of dead ends, ambushes, and mass graves.

Anna was beginning to regret coming here. Sharena was looking a little green from all the bones, not that Anna blamed her, and even the usually reliable Alfonse seemed tired. However, they'd wasted so much time coming here! If they went back empty handed, Gustav would have her head! Vassal or not, one didn't waste time, funds, and put the heirs to the throne in unnecessary danger for nothing!

"Commander, perhaps we should head back." Alfonse asked as the group descended down a long flight of stairs.

"Wha-?!"

"You two look, it's a light at the end of the tunnel!" Sharena suddenly said, running ahead of them and further down the staircase. Upon closer inspection Anna found that Sharena had been right, the flight of stairs was leading toward light, but...

"Sharena, wait!" However the blonde was out of earshot. Dammit. Using Nóatún's effect, Anna appeared in front of her young ward just in time to deflect an arrow aimed at her head. The girl let out a startled cry before Alfonse, who'd managed to catch up the the pair, pulled her out of the room and back toward the staircase, which was protected by the rooms wall. Anna joined them shortly after, the same way she'd saved Sharena, and escaped the barrage of automatic arrows that littered the entry way.

"I.. I almost died.. Thank you brother."

"Don't run off like that!"

"Right, i'm sorry."

"That was close," Anna muttered to herself, watching the siblings interactions with mild interest. However, something gestured her to look toward the pillar in the center of the massive spiral staircase the trio had recently descended. Strange, it almost looked like there was more to it...

The arrows stopped.

"Hmm?" Anna held up her hand, telling the royal siblings to stay put, before wearily moving to investigate the new room. She used Nóatún as a makeshift mirror before putting herself in any risk and it had been just as she'd hoped, the arrow trap had ran out of juice! "Thank goodness this place is so old, had it still been full of people we might have had a problem!"

"Commander, please, we've done all we can here. Shouldn't we head back?"

"What are you saying Alfonse?" Anna asked, determination renewed "This is the first real trap we've encountered, and traps usually mean that there's something worth protecting nearby!"

"What? But what about all the other traps!"

"Sharena, all those previous mishaps were the result of wild animals and monsters that lived in the ruins. This has actual thought put into it and look!" Anna said, gesturing toward the stone slab at the end of the room, "I'm willing to bet that's related to our target!"

"Really?" Sharena asked, heading over to it before either Alfonse of Anna could stop her "But it looks just like any regular old roc-!"

The doors leading out into the stairs slammed shut, and the room began to shake, before four strangers appeared and attacked!


	4. 004: The Combat

Metal met metal and the battle began.

"Stop it! We're not looking for a fight!" Alfonse yelled in vain, narrowly avoiding a stab in the abdomen for his troubles.

"Alfonse forget it, these guys won't listen to reason. I remember something similar happening when your father showed me Nóatún! It's a test, just cut them down and the room should let us leave!" Anna ordered "Sharena, be careful!"

"Ahh, this is all the Commanders fault!" Sharena cried, dodging a magical attack and a lance thrust.

"I'll hang you by your pigtail!" Anna yelled, cutting down the eye-patch wearing Bow Fighter with relative ease. She didn't like relying on Nóatún's abilities that much, but...

"Commander!?" Sharena let out a startled cry when Anna warped behind her and flung Nóatún at the Lance fighter trying to skewer the princess. The divine weapon shattered the aquatic looking solider, like glass, before digging into the wall from the force used to throw it. However, there were still two more enemies left and the commander was now without a weapon!

"No!" Sharena cried before her body moved on it's own and she jammed her Steel Lance into the Green Mage's heart. The woman didn't budge, and to Sharena's horror began charging up a spell, but she was stopped by Alfonse appearing out from behind and beheading her.

"Looks like we held our own rather well" Anna said, pulling Nóatún out of the wall, and walking over to the siblings sides. "So? How did you two like your first experience fighting human like opponents?

"They weren't real?" Sharena asked, Anna made a face.

"Sharena... People don't normally shatter like glass."

"It was informative." Alfonse replied, That sword unit had showed him just how lacing he truly was. "Still, I'd rather not experience that again, may we please head back?"

"Now, now, what just happened proves that we hit the jackpot." Anna began, "As you know I first received Nóatún during a trip with your father, he was originally hoping to give it to his best man but it chose me instead. However, something not so different from this happened during the selection ceremony. The fact that it happened here implies..."

"Implies that a Vassel Weapon is near."

"Precisely."

"I see, if father finds out we decided to ignore something like this..."

"He'll be pissed..."

The two stood awkwardly as they wondered about their next move.

"Hey, hey, what are you two talking about?!" Sharena asked, she hated being left out of the loop! Suddenly she noticed that something was very wrong. The door leading to the staircase hadn't opened. Also...

"Guys... Are we moving?"

"What?" Alfonse asked "What do you mean Sharena?"

"We're moving, it's faint but, you can just make out the vibrations." Anna said, hand on the floor.

"What do we do?!" Alfonse asked, nearby Sharena was also panicking.

"Nothing. The room is probably taking us to the Vassel Weapon."

"How can you be so sure?!"

"It's what happened with Nóatún."

"I see."

It seemed like there was nothing the order could do but wait.


	5. 005: The End of The Beginning

"This stone slab looks significant. Let's examine it, It looks like there's some writing here..."

Sharena glanced at her brother, they'd been in the room for over ten minutes and there was no sign of it opening up anytime soon, and lit up. Leave it to Alfonse to pick up on something she'd missed. To think she assumed the writing had been wear and tear! "Good eye, brother! There's definitely some sort of writing engraved here... Can you read it?"

"It's ancient Askran—and, as you can see from the way the letters are worn... it's very old. Let's see..."

 _In remembrance of Askr, the Great_  
 _Pathfinder, we here inscribe..._

Alfonse paused, a good chunk of the inscription was unreadable.

 _Find you here a fragment of_  
 _the god-dragon Askr's Rite of_  
 _Awakening..._

 _Call forth the power...  
_ _in the god-dragon's Seals Sacrosanct..._

"It keeps going like that, with details on how to perform the rite."

"Are you saying that the rite calls forth the power in Sacred Seals?" Anna, who'd been fiddling around with Nóatún, asked "That does sound worth pursuing! OK, team! As soon as we find out where this room leads us it's back to base!"

"Commander, what are Sacred Seals?" Sharena asked, Alfonse was glad she did because he didn't want the commander to know he didn't know what they were either.

"Oh, you two don't have to worry about them."

"What do you mean?" Alfonse asked, intrigued.

"Look, if you're still curious when we get back to the barracks i'll lend you a book about them. Focus, we're about to reach our destination!" Anna commanded, and Alfonse frowned. How was the Commander so sure?

Sure enough the room shook and the doors leading up the the stairs opened. However, there weren't stairs waiting for them on the other side anymore, there was...

"The Sky!?" Sharena cried, moving outside to get a closer look. Indeed, they were now outside the Eternal Sanctum!

Suddenly, Sharena felt something strong tug her ear.

"Ouch, ow, ahh, Stop it!"

"Stop. Running. Off!" Anna spat "Stay here with your brother and don't move." She ordered, gesturing to the side of the building. They were still outside, but not inside the ten minute death trap they'd been in previously. Anna walked forward, and Sharena noticed what she hadn't caught before. The room had brought them to a platform high above the clouds! The Commander was making her way over to the center, where a modest alter sat.

"Is that the Vessel Weapon you were talking about?" Alfonse asked, walking over to Anna out of curiosity.

"To tell you the truth, i'm not actually sure..." Anna replied sheepishly.

"What do you mean?!"

"Regardless, lets just bring it to your father, I'm sure it'll make this trip worth the effort!"

"I knew you had ulterior motives for not wanting to leave."

"It kinda looks like a bow." Sharena muttered, handling the relic when Anna and Alfonse weren't looking, "Sha-!"

The world exploded.

"So that's it then, you're just bending over backwards and letting Askr do whatever it wants?" The woman sighed "Fine then, I'll play along. But be aware that once things take off there's no turning back." The woman began fiddling around with her staff "Askr and Emblia, those two dragons sure are hard to tell apart from all the way down here huh?"

She was confused, what exactly was she watching right now?

As if to answer her question, something painful started to poke at her head and Sharena woke up to Feh poking her, in a possible attempt of assimilating her, with her little owl beak.

"I see your up" Alfonse said, being aware of it from his sister's screaming. "Before you ask, it seems that whatever you did with the bow resulted in us being kicked out. Also, the Eternal Sanctum is gone. Seems we ended up in a section called The Tower of Heaven before you brought the entire thing down. Congratulations Sharena, you and father finally have something in common: You both destroyed an ancient ruin before scholars had the chance to study it."

"Where's the Commander?" Sharena asked, ignoring her brothers jab at her character, and hugging Feh like a teddy bear. The owl didn't seem to mind.

"She's outside getting our guest situated, it seems we were wrong. We found something much better than a Vassel Weapon.

* * *

End of the Beginning.


	6. FAQ

The Order of Heroes has just completed its first major milestone!

How pathetic.

I'm on the fence with how it turned out, but I really should just accept it and move on.

Yep, yep, yes sir indeed! This is a section dedicated to FACTS, ANSWERS, & QUESTIONS!

It's also where I generally try to fill in some blanks, mostly for my benefit, without spoiling what's to come. Why am I doing such a controversial thing you ask? Why, it's because my memory sucks and I tend to forget where I was going with something after a while. It's a large part of why most of my fic's remain incomplete.

Without further ado, lets get started :)

* * *

 **The Beginning**

* * *

001 - 005

* * *

Technically, this mission was given to Anna as the sole official member of the Order of Heroes, and a Vassel.

Zacharias's backstory has been altered. He still leaves for the same reasons though, leaving Anna to manage the order on her own.

Anna brings Alfonse and Sharena along for the experience, this is why it takes them so long getting to their destination (2 weeks).

She assumes it'll be a relatively easy job.

Feh is mostly serving as a shout out to that April Fools prank.

When Anna realizes that it may turn out to be a big waste of time she panics, because she doesn't want to get scolded for taking the royal siblings on a two week journey for no reason. This is the only reason they stick around, she's looking for anything that'll help her salvage this excursion!

Alfonse suspects her motives.

Sharena manages to come across something, and nearly gets skewered form it by activating a trap on accident. Anna saves her and is secretly glad they managed to find something.

Honestly, most of the problems are Sharena's fault. She's pretty green, mostly inspired from the _Learn with Sharena_ concept.

Anna realizes that they stumbled upon something far greater when the room becomes a battlefield. Her story about Nóatún is something I plan on getting into later.

Anna finds out about them reaching their destination from Nóatún, I should really try introducing/building upon that concept sooner rather than later. She also realizes that the "bow" they found is not a Vassel Weapon.

Sharena accidentally activates it and has a strange dream before finding herself back by the orders carriage.

They were actually kicked out of the ruin by some strange power, that same power proceeded to collapse the place soon after, much to Alfonse's horror.

That's basically it for the first arc. The sibling duo wields regular steel weapons too, this is an AU after all.


End file.
